Unless you turned a deaf ear to the news last week, you are probably familiar with the news story involving the foul language used by New York City Councilman James Oddo. As you may know, Councilman Oddo was being interviewed by a Norwegian television crew. Mr. Oddo believed it to be a legitimate news interview when, in fact, he was being “punked,” as they say in today’s vernacular. The news crew was actually there under false pretenses as their real motive was to ask questions that would catch the councilman off guard and capture his reaction on camera. The result was a vulgar verbal diatribe with the “F-bomb” being offered over a dozen times in under a minute. As I watched this story develop, I was reminded of a recent column of mine that generated a great deal of email from my readers called The Stop Cursing Challenge.

What Councilman Oddo learned is that you can’t take back what you say, particularly when those words are captured on tape. But you can spend the rest of your life apologizing for it, as the councilman is painfully aware and has already begun to do. So I suggest you all take a lesson from this incident and make a more concerted effort to watch the language you use at home and at the office. In my opinion, there are few things uglier and more classless than profanity. With that said, I again ask you all to take up my challenge and become curse-free, so you will never find yourself in Mr. Oddo’s shoes. And, speaking of the councilman, I invite him to join us in our little venture to stop cursing because there is always a more dignified and civilized way of making a point. I swear there is!